Unmet Healthcare Needs among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for System-Wide and Structural Changes for Service Delivery
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, college students faced health disparities in addition to a negative burden on academic performance; however, little is reported in the literature regarding healthcare utilization. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among consenting college stude...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/8/1360 |
| _version_ | 1797432201401335808 |
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| author | Monideepa B. Becerra Thomas Charles Roland Robert M. Avina Benjamin J. Becerra |
| author_facet | Monideepa B. Becerra Thomas Charles Roland Robert M. Avina Benjamin J. Becerra |
| author_sort | Monideepa B. Becerra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, college students faced health disparities in addition to a negative burden on academic performance; however, little is reported in the literature regarding healthcare utilization. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among consenting college student participants aged 18 or older from a Hispanic-serving institution. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were used to analyze demographic characteristics and the types of healthcare services needed by such characteristics. Logistic regression was used to adjust for noted sex differences in associations between reporting limited healthcare services and types of healthcare services. Results: The study population of 223 participants was mostly Hispanic/Latino (65%) and female (73%). Of the population, 11% reported they could not obtain needed healthcare services, with time being reported as the most common reason. Significant associations were found between seeking general healthcare services/routine screening, seeking mental health services, and seeking sexual health services with reporting limited healthcare services, with sex-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of 1.90 (95% CI: 1.08, 3.36), 3.21 (95% CI: 1.44, 4.15), and 2.58 (95% CI: 1.05, 6.35), respectively. Conclusions: Availability and inability to obtain health services may exacerbate college student health disparities. Targeted interventions are needed in the population to mitigate the potential burdens of unmet healthcare needs, particularly among minority college students. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:56:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fd322732ad1d41c1aa644d8260bcb995 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:56:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-fd322732ad1d41c1aa644d8260bcb9952023-12-01T23:44:50ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322022-07-01108136010.3390/healthcare10081360Unmet Healthcare Needs among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for System-Wide and Structural Changes for Service DeliveryMonideepa B. Becerra0Thomas Charles Roland1Robert M. Avina2Benjamin J. Becerra3Center for Health Equity, Department of Health Science & Human Ecology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USACenter for Health Equity, Department of Health Science & Human Ecology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USACenter for Health Equity, Department of Health Science & Human Ecology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USACenter for Health Equity, Department of Information and Decision Sciences, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USABackground: During the COVID-19 pandemic, college students faced health disparities in addition to a negative burden on academic performance; however, little is reported in the literature regarding healthcare utilization. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among consenting college student participants aged 18 or older from a Hispanic-serving institution. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were used to analyze demographic characteristics and the types of healthcare services needed by such characteristics. Logistic regression was used to adjust for noted sex differences in associations between reporting limited healthcare services and types of healthcare services. Results: The study population of 223 participants was mostly Hispanic/Latino (65%) and female (73%). Of the population, 11% reported they could not obtain needed healthcare services, with time being reported as the most common reason. Significant associations were found between seeking general healthcare services/routine screening, seeking mental health services, and seeking sexual health services with reporting limited healthcare services, with sex-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of 1.90 (95% CI: 1.08, 3.36), 3.21 (95% CI: 1.44, 4.15), and 2.58 (95% CI: 1.05, 6.35), respectively. Conclusions: Availability and inability to obtain health services may exacerbate college student health disparities. Targeted interventions are needed in the population to mitigate the potential burdens of unmet healthcare needs, particularly among minority college students.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/8/1360mental healthsexual healthhealthcare accesscollege students |
| spellingShingle | Monideepa B. Becerra Thomas Charles Roland Robert M. Avina Benjamin J. Becerra Unmet Healthcare Needs among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for System-Wide and Structural Changes for Service Delivery Healthcare mental health sexual health healthcare access college students |
| title | Unmet Healthcare Needs among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for System-Wide and Structural Changes for Service Delivery |
| title_full | Unmet Healthcare Needs among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for System-Wide and Structural Changes for Service Delivery |
| title_fullStr | Unmet Healthcare Needs among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for System-Wide and Structural Changes for Service Delivery |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unmet Healthcare Needs among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for System-Wide and Structural Changes for Service Delivery |
| title_short | Unmet Healthcare Needs among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for System-Wide and Structural Changes for Service Delivery |
| title_sort | unmet healthcare needs among college students during the covid 19 pandemic implications for system wide and structural changes for service delivery |
| topic | mental health sexual health healthcare access college students |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/8/1360 |
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